Sunday 31 October 2010

Didn't want to be your ghost

Friday night finds a group of us under the London Bridge railway arches, queuing to for The Last Tuesday Society's Halloween Ball. We are given bananas to munch on as we wait. I had a crumpet and a glass of milk for dinner so eat three, then worry that I'll get potassium poisoning. Inside it is dark, lit with dim red lamps, a labyrinth of a dark room. What feels like room upon room stretching away underneath the old brick, filled with shadowy bodies in all manner of elaborate costumes. Mad Hatters and the Living Dead, a woman in gold sequins and tulle, sprouting antlers. Lots of fake blood. C and I run about, giddy with the surreal, head off to make new friends, bump into them hours later having forgotten their names. Masks, whitened faces, blood dripping scarlet from lips. There is a 40 piece orchestra, a chocolate fountain, and, randomly, hidden in a back room we stumble upon many hours after arriving, two hot tubs. A few of us have come along and we disperse and re-group, lose some, find others, push through crowds of dancers, fingers entwined, scanning the crowds.

Later, we emerge, cross the river in search of a taxi. Pause for a moment on the bridge to look at London lit up around us, the expanse of black water. We don't get to bed until gone 5.

Saturday evening and I am in Suffolk, in a tiny village hall, listening to O and his brother sing, play the guitar. Outside it is cold and inky black, I can see the Milky Way.






9 comments:

  1. That Halloween Ball sounds AMAZING!

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  2. Sounds like a fun Halloween weekend, love the photos. My highlight was to hand out treats to the Trick or Treaters, (no photos) though I was in costume and managed to evoke a few confused looks.

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  3. A rather surreal sounding weekend Becky!
    Hope your November is full of such fun too.
    xx

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  4. Sounds surreal indeed! Ball sounds spectacular - I've seen adverts for their events before, always sound slightly crazy but very intriguing!

    Oh will definitely check out that exhibition btw, thanks for the heads up!

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  5. Sounds so lovely, especially the Ball.

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  6. oh! it sounds perfect! was it at shunt?

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  7. Like the sound of your weekend...always planned to go to the arches...just not yet managed it! When i return to London that is the plan though... xxx

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  8. I don't wish to sound like an Enid Blyton character, but what fun! I like that your weekend containd hijinks and quiet times!

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  9. @ HannahB - no, not it Shunt, but very nearby, and similar feel - dark room after dark room, with arched ceilings and damp walls!

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